Quarterbacking a family practice for Mannings

Eli Manning had several reasons to attend Ole Miss, including the fact that he had grown up as a fan of the Rebels.

L.M. Otero/AP DALLAS - Friday's Cotton Bowl will at least temporarily close the curtain on a 35-year run for America's first family of college quarterbacking.

Thirty-five years and almost 25,000 passing yards. Three near misses with the Heisman Trophy. One No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft, a No. 2 and maybe another No. 1 to come.

For college football genealogy, it's difficult for any family to match the Mannings. It started with Archie, who starred at Ole Miss (1968-70) and has risen to near deity in the Magnolia State.

Two of his three sons have whizzed past his statistical accomplishments as if Dad should have pulled onto the shoulder and let them pass.

Peyton Manning upset many of the locals by not following his father's path to Oxford, Miss. He instead led Tennessee to three top 10 finishes, placed second in the 1997 Heisman voting, and is now one of the NFL's top quarterbacks with Indianapolis.

And, finally, there's Eli, who will complete his Ole Miss career on Friday.

''It has flown by,'' said Eli, who finished third in this year's Heisman race and recently graduated. ''I can't believe five years have passed.''

Archie, 54, will take his usual place with his wife quietly among the players' parents in the stands come Friday.

''It's been a long and a great run with all of our boys,'' Archie said Monday from New Orleans. ''They've given us more joy than any parents deserve - than I deserve, anyway.''

Peyton will be excused. He will be preparing for Sunday's playoff game against the Denver Broncos.

Ole Miss coach David Cutcliffe has played a special role in this generation of Manning heroics. He recruited Peyton to Tennessee as the offensive coordinator and, after becoming the Rebels' coach in December 1998, eliminated any doubts that Eli had in committing to his father's school.

''Nine of the last 10 years, there's been a Manning that I've coached,'' Mr. Cutcliffe said. ''I've given it some thought (going into Eli's final game), but I'm not as emotional as I'm just looking forward to seeing him in the future go to the next level.''

There were no visions of grandeur for Archie Manning coming out of a Class A program in little Drew, Miss., in 1967. He chose Ole Miss, a SEC power in the early '60s.

Freshmen were ineligible and recruiting rules were about as restrictive as the Oklahoma land rush. Archie was one of eight freshman quarterbacks at Ole Miss that year, but he won the starting job as a sophomore and led the Rebels to 22 victories in three seasons.

A rifle of a right arm, guts and guile made Archie a cult hero in Mississippi and a national celebrity.

He had Ole Miss in the top 10 as a senior and was bearing down on the Heisman Trophy when a hit from Houston linebacker Charlie Hall broke his left arm. He finished the year playing with a bulky plastic sleeve on his arm.

Archie was selected in the NFL draft by the nearby New Orleans Saints, right after Heisman winner Jim Plunkett was taken first by Boston. Archie starred in New Orleans but learned that one player, even one of his stature, couldn't correct the course on a wayward ship. He played 14 years in the NFL and retired to New Orleans.

His football career would have ended after his sophomore season had Archie had his way. His father took his own life in 1969, and Archie was determined to stay home and help the family. But his mother exceeded her son's stubbornness and sent him back to Oxford.

The second generation of Manning quarterbacks came up at a time in which collegians could pursue pro careers before playing out their college eligibility, and Peyton was considered a top pro prospect after his junior season. But he returned as a senior and won his only SEC title before being picked first in the '98 draft by the Colts.

In 1998, Eli headed into his senior year of high school having narrowed his list of colleges to Texas, Virginia and Ole Miss. And Ole Miss was hanging on mostly by sentimentality. For some reason, Eli said, Rebels coach Tommy Tuberville didn't recruit him hard.

''I don't know if he knew he was leaving or what that was about,'' Eli said.

He took an official visit to Austin and brought Mom and Dad, who knew Texas coach Mack Brown and his wife, Sally, from Brown's days coaching Tulane.

Tuberville was out of Oxford within a few months, bound for Auburn. Ole Miss quickly named Cutcliffe the successor. To Eli, there was more reason to attend Ole Miss than family ties.

''I knew the kind of relationship he and Peyton had at Tennessee, the kind of player he helped Peyton become,'' he said. ''I just liked Ole Miss. I grew up an Ole Miss fan.''

Eli and Ben Roethlisberger, the quarterback at Miami of Ohio, are expected to be among the first five picks in the NFL draft in April. And how will Archie travel to watch two sons play pro ball?

''My guess is we'll at least see three to five (games) of each of 'em,'' he said. ''And there's no assurance that Eli will be playing next year. But my TV situation, I've got to do something high-tech like split screens or something.''

As for the next generation of Mannings, no potential quarterbacks yet - so far, a granddaughter, May, born to Cooper and his wife.

Published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Wednesday, December 31, 2003.